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7 Ways To Utilize A Construction App

Can you access the current budget forecast for your project within the next 15 seconds?

Can you confirm that your subcontractors are on schedule without a phone call or email?

Can your information-hungry client get what they need without lighting up your phone?

Can you relax when you get home?

If you answered "no" to any of these, it's either time to invest in project management software, or, if you already have it, to start utilizing it to its full potential.

Here are 7 ways to utilize a construction app to deliver your project on time and under budget.

1. Centralize Your Data

If your data is all over the place (email, excel, notebook, the back of a napkin, your brain) just think of how much of your mental energy each day is spent keeping it all straight. Builders like you got fed up with the hassle of wrangling information years ago and developed project management software to end it once and for all. Centralize and organize everything within one app to save you the time and energy of hunting it down and sharing it with others.

2. Stay Off The Phone

The project management app wasn’t designed simply as an organizer; it’s a communication hub as well. With the vast amount of information flying around from managers to crew members to subcontractors to clients every single day, it’s far too common to watch half your day slip away on the phone. When your whole team is working with the same app, however, the communication process is automated so the right guys get the right notifications and updated task lists in real time.

3. Automate Delegation & Accountability

Rest easy knowing that everything is getting done, even the little things that could easily slip through the cracks. As they say “the devil is in the details.” Task lists can be synchronized with the project schedule and developed into templates, creating a recipe for success for each project. Once the task is assigned, you can simply glance at your phone to check progress. You can even automate reminders to keep the task front-of-mind until it’s completed.

4. Put Your Calculator Away

Aside from the convenience of storing all of your data in one place, the real magic happens when all of that data is connected. When you input a change order, for instance, the system will roll over all of the variables for you: your schedule will update, your budget forecast will take the new change into account, and notifications will be sent out to everyone affected. (Learn more about managing change orders with an app). No more dropping simple little details, forgetting to carry the one, or realzing that you forgot to communicate an important detail resulting in a nasty surprise for the client later on.

5. Post Files & Photos In One Place

A good construction app houses all the photos and files for your project centrally. Your team and clients can check in at any time without needing to be sent another file or given access to a folder on a shared network.

6. Feed Information-Hungry Clients

Since your reputation relies on great client relations, a well-designed construction app gives your client enough access to keep them happy and well-informed and prevent the need for frequent meetings. You clients get their own login credentials to browse updated data (only the data that you’ve chosen to give them access to) and project photos at any time. You can keep on making progress while they check in on their own time.

7. Automate your reporting

Save yourself the time and hassle of putting reports together. You shouldn’t have to jump from excel to your notebook to your email to a phone call just to gather up the data you knew you were going to need anyway. Let the app do the work for you with automated reporting features. Just review, click send and move on.

Get The Right Software

Every aspect of homebuilding rides on having the right tools. Be sure to have a system that works for you. With a system that was actually designed by homebuilders, you will have all the tools you need to manage client relations right there in your pocket at all times. Learn more about project management software here.

About the Author:Sven GustafsonPresident, Stonewood, LLC - Custom Home Builder

As a 4th generation custom home builder with a software development background, Sven created BuildTools to help his company have a "connection point" for everyone in the building process.